After my visit to Lamorinda CrossFit, I fueled up and drove back to the Peninsula to San Carlos CrossFit. I had a heard some great things about this place from my good friend and now business partner (for a few months!) Brendon at CrossFit San Mateo, and from Jason at Mad Dawg Fitness (he is the brother of owner and coach Breanne!). Needless to say, I was pretty excited to check them out!
I got there for a noon class where I hung and watched (getting some good video footage). Then Breanne and co-owner and coach Branden hit a beast of a workout with me.
Walking into this place was like walking into a fitness nuts fantasy. It was, as I am finding to be the case with most affiliates, slightly challenging to find, but once I did find it I was rewarded with hanging out in one damn awesome gym. You stroll through the roll up doorway, past a stack of massive tires and are met with an incredibly well put together pull up rig along the side wall. There are multiple width bars, square bars, I-beams and more, and there is more than enough space to get a whole slew of people swinging around on it. Then you look to your right and your eyes are met with a massive gym floor. A hand-made front desk along the front, rings and ropes hanging down from the center, racks and weights along the far wall and enough space for a the class to run around and feel like kids (while throwing around tons of weight as well!).
I was instantly excited to hang there for a while, and I knew that I was going to have a great time. Breanne invited me in as her noon class shuffled in and got to work, and soon after Branden came in to hang out and chat with me while the class went on. I could tell right off the bat that these coaches took their job seriously. They were fun, they joked, they goofed around and all, but when it was time to work, their instruction was top-notch. Each athlete clearly worked their butts off, and I could see that they responded very well to the cues they received. The believability of the coaches was strong there. What I mean is that when one of them said something, you honesty listened because you KNEW they not only understood it, but practiced it a ton themselves. I felt it personally when we hit some squats to start off our workout. To hear Branden’s support through my reps was motivating. As a coach myself, I am very aware of the effects of another coach on me while I workout, and these two had a great effect!
I would most closely compare San Carlos CrossFit to CrossFit Pleasanton; it is a place you go if you want to have an awesome time but to get some very serious work at as well. They don’t mess around at all, but they have found that perfect balance of hard work and good times. On a personal level, this was the exact type of place I could see myself training on a regular basis. An additional aspect that made this gym pop to me was that it was organized so well. Because of the look, it seemed like they had the most elite of all equipment there, but, interestingly enough, most of the equipment and features there were hand made. Awesome! The plyo boxes, the bar holders, the pull up rig, the plate holders, the foam roller stand, the front desk and on and on. I love a place that can be like a DIY gym but still come across as a clean, organized workout space. Lets just say I learned a good bit for the future of my gym!
After watching the noon athletes take their beating (pause squats and a row/run, long metcon), I got to see what was in store for me:
The Workout
3x3 pause squats
“The Courage 300”
100 meter keg sprint (I got the 100#...)
50 KB swings 44#
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 double unders
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 box jumps
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 pull ups
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 calories row
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 tire flips (heavy as hell!)
Man oh man was I excited!! The pause squats were perfect to open up my now insanely tight low back, and I worked to an easy 275# to get loosened up. We then set up our stations and prepared to get after it. This was a very interestingly put together workout. The rests were perfect, enough to give you a little juice for each round, but not enough to allow you to go crazy, or to allow you to lose intensity. Each 50 rep-er took enough out of you to make the next one that much harder, and honestly; the row took it all out of me. I got the swings, double unders and box jumps all unbroken. Then, with the pull ups I had to drop from the bar at 25 and get 8’s and 5’s after that. I was able to pull away at the box jumps, but Breanne caught me at the tire flips and blew past. I tried my best to match her flips, but I just had nothing left at all. She came in at 23:17, about 2 flips ahead of me. And I came in at 23:30. Branden came in not to long after that and we all were good and toasted at that point.
Yeah, what a great time with a couple great people. I am certain that over the next handful of months I will be back down to visit and get some good workouts in. Their welcoming personalities, their great space, and the fact the Breanne and her brother Jason are both training for the same thing as me, the CrossFit Games, I am sure it would help all of us to workout together!
I got there for a noon class where I hung and watched (getting some good video footage). Then Breanne and co-owner and coach Branden hit a beast of a workout with me.
Walking into this place was like walking into a fitness nuts fantasy. It was, as I am finding to be the case with most affiliates, slightly challenging to find, but once I did find it I was rewarded with hanging out in one damn awesome gym. You stroll through the roll up doorway, past a stack of massive tires and are met with an incredibly well put together pull up rig along the side wall. There are multiple width bars, square bars, I-beams and more, and there is more than enough space to get a whole slew of people swinging around on it. Then you look to your right and your eyes are met with a massive gym floor. A hand-made front desk along the front, rings and ropes hanging down from the center, racks and weights along the far wall and enough space for a the class to run around and feel like kids (while throwing around tons of weight as well!).
I was instantly excited to hang there for a while, and I knew that I was going to have a great time. Breanne invited me in as her noon class shuffled in and got to work, and soon after Branden came in to hang out and chat with me while the class went on. I could tell right off the bat that these coaches took their job seriously. They were fun, they joked, they goofed around and all, but when it was time to work, their instruction was top-notch. Each athlete clearly worked their butts off, and I could see that they responded very well to the cues they received. The believability of the coaches was strong there. What I mean is that when one of them said something, you honesty listened because you KNEW they not only understood it, but practiced it a ton themselves. I felt it personally when we hit some squats to start off our workout. To hear Branden’s support through my reps was motivating. As a coach myself, I am very aware of the effects of another coach on me while I workout, and these two had a great effect!
I would most closely compare San Carlos CrossFit to CrossFit Pleasanton; it is a place you go if you want to have an awesome time but to get some very serious work at as well. They don’t mess around at all, but they have found that perfect balance of hard work and good times. On a personal level, this was the exact type of place I could see myself training on a regular basis. An additional aspect that made this gym pop to me was that it was organized so well. Because of the look, it seemed like they had the most elite of all equipment there, but, interestingly enough, most of the equipment and features there were hand made. Awesome! The plyo boxes, the bar holders, the pull up rig, the plate holders, the foam roller stand, the front desk and on and on. I love a place that can be like a DIY gym but still come across as a clean, organized workout space. Lets just say I learned a good bit for the future of my gym!
After watching the noon athletes take their beating (pause squats and a row/run, long metcon), I got to see what was in store for me:
The Workout
3x3 pause squats
“The Courage 300”
100 meter keg sprint (I got the 100#...)
50 KB swings 44#
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 double unders
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 box jumps
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 pull ups
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 calories row
60 sec. rest
100 m keg sprint
50 tire flips (heavy as hell!)
Man oh man was I excited!! The pause squats were perfect to open up my now insanely tight low back, and I worked to an easy 275# to get loosened up. We then set up our stations and prepared to get after it. This was a very interestingly put together workout. The rests were perfect, enough to give you a little juice for each round, but not enough to allow you to go crazy, or to allow you to lose intensity. Each 50 rep-er took enough out of you to make the next one that much harder, and honestly; the row took it all out of me. I got the swings, double unders and box jumps all unbroken. Then, with the pull ups I had to drop from the bar at 25 and get 8’s and 5’s after that. I was able to pull away at the box jumps, but Breanne caught me at the tire flips and blew past. I tried my best to match her flips, but I just had nothing left at all. She came in at 23:17, about 2 flips ahead of me. And I came in at 23:30. Branden came in not to long after that and we all were good and toasted at that point.
Yeah, what a great time with a couple great people. I am certain that over the next handful of months I will be back down to visit and get some good workouts in. Their welcoming personalities, their great space, and the fact the Breanne and her brother Jason are both training for the same thing as me, the CrossFit Games, I am sure it would help all of us to workout together!
San Carlos CrossFit
551 Taylor Way Unit #4
San Carlos, CA 94070
650.508.9500
info@sancarloscrossfit.com
One more week of crazy visits and I am expecting an amazing week! I should have the post from my all-day visit to CrossFit Marin up tomorrow!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
551 Taylor Way Unit #4
San Carlos, CA 94070
650.508.9500
info@sancarloscrossfit.com
One more week of crazy visits and I am expecting an amazing week! I should have the post from my all-day visit to CrossFit Marin up tomorrow!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
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